A night at the ballet

I was lucky enough to be treated by a friend to a night at the ballet, just after the New Year. We went to see Northern Ballet's 'Cinderella' at the Grand Theatre in Leeds - and it was wonderful. All the city's Christmas lights were still lit, so it was lovely walking through the city centre from the rail station to the theatre.

The theatre itself is full of history, built in 1878 in an elaborate mix of styles: gothic, Romanesque and Scottish baronial. The traditional Victorian interior has tiers - the Stalls, Dress Circle, Upper Circle, Balcony (Gallery) and Upper Balcony, carefully organised to maintain the separation of rank for the class-conscious Victorians. There are still some boxes at the sides too. (One of my abiding childhood memories is the thrill of our family having a box at a performance in a theatre in Nottingham. I can't even recall what we saw, but I remember the box, vividly!) The Grand has, of course, been upgraded many times during its life and is now a comfortable venue with enough elegance to make you feel rather special.

We had excellent seats near the front in the Stalls, close enough to the stage to be able to see the expressions on the faces of the dancers, and with a glimpse down into the orchestra pit in front of and below the stage. Such anticipation waiting for that red curtain to draw back and reveal the performance...

These are all snaps taken on my phone, and I had to wait until the end when the theatre had emptied a bit. They do, however, give a glimpse of the theatre's breath-taking decoration. That's a massive chandelier at the centre of the ceiling rose, though my phone couldn't really deal with its brightness.

I couldn't of course, take any pictures during the ballet, so you'll have to believe me when I say it was absolutely gorgeous. I love that Northern Ballet performs with a live orchestra, the Sinfonia, and the costumes and staging were phenomenal. There are some photos on their website HERE. The company has existed since 1969, building from a small dance troupe of just 11 dancers to become one of the world's greatest ballet companies. In particular it benefitted hugely from the leadership, as Artistic Director, of the renowned Christopher Gable, from 1987 until his death in 1998.  The company now operates from a huge, brand new purpose-built studio and theatre space in Leeds, now under the direction of David Nixon.

The Tempest

'Shakespeare in the Park' were performing The Tempest recently in Roberts Park, Saltaire. It's the Shakespeare play that I studied for A level English at school - but that's so many years ago, I confess I remember very little of it. These days I am too deaf to hear a non-amplified outdoor performance, but it was gratifying to see a sizeable audience enjoying the play. This on a day when there was also the Wimbledon men's singles final, the cricket World Cup final and the F1 British Grand Prix to enjoy on TV, if you so chose. I had an hour or so brisk walk (to justify then sitting inside on a lovely summer's day!) and I just passed by to watch a little of the play. Then I hurried home, a bit late to watch the tennis, which I'd recorded. I was still sitting there in the early evening, it was such a long, gladiatorial fight between Djokovic and Federer!

The story behind 'Shakespeare in the Park' is interesting. (See HERE) Steve Pearson, its founder, was inspired by a book he picked up in a New York bookshop - and this is now the fifth year the company has been performing free Shakespeare plays in the open air. They started in Roberts Park but have extended it to other parks in the district too.

It can be a little difficult to follow (if you can't hear!) as they wear modern dress, change the gender of the characters according to the actors they have recruited, and add modern twists. The drunk, Stephano, entered singing 'Baby Shark'! That's him with Caliban and Trinculo, above and below:

Below, there is Ariel, working his magic with the shipwrecked lords. 

I did actually love the play when I studied it. Though I can't recall the detailed plot, I can still quote some of the lines!

'Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange.'

'But this rough magic I here abjure;'

Even now, the words please me. I remain very glad that we had to study some Shakespeare at school. I feel it has added richness to my life experience. I don't think schools study it so much nowadays.

Bradford Playhouse

Bradford has a fine and historic theatre, The Alhambra, that hosts the big touring shows: musicals, plays, ballets and a much-loved pantomime at Christmas. Tucked away in the Little Germany district, however, is a much smaller theatre, the Bradford Playhouse. It was founded by an amateur group in 1929 and within a few years the playwright J B Priestley became its President. He helped rebuild it after a fire in the 1930s (with a very Thirties-looking facade, see above). Another fire in 1996 caused the closure of the main auditorium, which was again rebuilt. Since then, it has changed ownership, name and been threatened with closure many times and many efforts have been made to revitalise it as an important community resource. It seems to struggle on heroically. 

Deeds or Words

I've mentioned before on this blog that it is 100 years this year since women, over 30 and who owned property, were granted the right to vote in parliamentary elections in Great Britain. (It wasn't until 1928 that women gained electoral equality.) There's been an interesting exhibition in Shipley College, showing letters, papers and ephemera recently acquired by the Saltaire Archive that had belonged to Isabel Salt. 

Isabel was the daughter of Titus Salt Jnr (and therefore granddaughter of Sir Titus Salt). She was well-educated, well-travelled and was a noted Suffragist. I had not fully appreciated that there were two strands in the battle for women's suffrage. There were the Suffragettes, women like Emmeline

Pankhurst, who engaged in direct action and civil disobedience in their fight for women's rights. There were also the Suffragists, women who campaigned and were vocal in their call for women's right to vote but who disagreed with the militant methods of the Suffragettes.

We're familiar with the purple, green and white colours of the Suffragettes. I hadn't realised that the Suffragists wore red, green and white. There were newspaper clippings in the archive that showed that Isabel, after speaking at a meeting, was described in a newspaper as a Suffragette and wrote a polite but robust denial, claiming herself to be a Suffragist. 

The exhibition was accompanied by a short, original drama, describing the various positions held by Thomas, a soldier (soldiers were not allowed to vote); Isabel Salt, a Suffragist; Maggie, Thomas's sister and a Suffragette; Rev. Oates, a man 'sitting on the fence'; and Mr Henry Beecher, a Conservative MP and prominently opposed to women's suffrage. I believe the actors were members of Bingley Little Theatre, though there didn't seem to be any note of their names anywhere. 

The displays at the exhibition included, with my permission, three of my photos (blushes...) that I took at the Women's March in May. (See HERE) So that was gratifying! 

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon was first opened (next to the site of an earlier Victorian theatre that burnt down) in 1932, designed by Elisabeth Scott (and thus the first important building in Britain to have been designed by a woman). It retains many of its original art deco features, although it was extensively renovated, extended and transformed in 2010, to improve both the visitor experience and the conditions for actors and crew.

It is not, in my opinion, a particularly beautiful building. From some angles it looks like a utilitarian community hall and is rather rambling inside. It's a Grade II* listed building. It must be difficult to work with such an iconic 'national treasure'. The theatre is privately owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, dedicated to performing the works of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as producing new work by living authors and touring extensively, both here and abroad.

The public areas have many photos of current and past productions and some costumes and props on display. I spotted a huge poster of David Tennant as King Lear. I'd love to have seen that!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Alan Troake and Suzanne Jackson

Just had the good fortune to spend a lovely, warm, sunny evening in Roberts Park watching a free open-air performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', this year's play from Shakespeare in the Park, Saltaire. This is the third year they have done a play, though the first I have managed to see. The story of how these performances came about is an interesting one - see here.

It was a delightful evening. The play is, of course, a light comedy about love, fairies and comical mistakes, with some engaging characters. The performance had a modern twist but was pretty faithful to the original dialogue. Being so deaf, I wasn't able to hear much of it really but I know the story from my schooldays so I could just about follow it. (I'm not sure if I've got all the cast correct...) I enjoyed it all very much. It's being repeated on 24/25 June and 9 July, if anyone local wants to catch it.

Puck (Suzanne Jackson) with Hermia (Sophia Leanne), one of the sleeping lovers.

Titania (Meg Hughes) falls in love with Bottom (Stephanie Hindle).

The Mechanicals perform their play for Theseus (Colin Pinks) and Hippolyta.

Pyramus (Stephanie Hindle) dies - amidst a great deal of tomato ketchup!

Notions of beauty

My route through Bradford between the various photography galleries had me criss-crossing the City Park area around City Hall. I noticed a new artwork by the acclaimed Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi. Completed last year and painted directly onto the ground, it is actually a two part work: 'Garden within a Garden', with the other piece in the courtyard around the Mughal Water Gardens in Lister Park. It is inspired by and reflects upon the role of the one million soldiers of the Indian Army who fought alongside the British Army in the Second World War. His intricate and lyrical style is influenced by the craft of Pakistani and Indian miniature painting.

In the photo above, the buildings in the background are, on the left, the Alhambra Theatre, built in 1913 and extensively and sympathetically redeveloped in the 1980s. On the right is the 1930s' Odeon cinema, still subject to controversy over whether it should be retained as a listed building and what its purpose should now be. It is apparently stuck in limbo, surrounded by scaffold as it has been for many years. 

Puppets on the Edge

The children were enthralled by these large-scale puppets, who were entertaining, as part of The Big Picnic, with a variety of musical numbers. I particularly liked the purple one. (My online photo club theme for this month is 'purple' so she may feature as my entry for that!) 

All lit up

I'm doing well for treats lately. I had another evening at the theatre last night, this time at the Alhambra in Bradford.  I went with some of my colleagues from work to see 'Hairspray', the musical.  (Being deaf, I find I can cope with musicals in a way that I can't, unfortunately, with more serious plays.  Though there was some dialogue that I couldn't catch, it didn't really affect my ability to follow the storyline, such as it was.)  It was an enjoyable evening, nothing too demanding. The action takes place in 1962 so the production is full of lively music and dancing.  It's a 'feel-good' show, just right for a chilly, winter, midweek night.

It's a treat just to visit the Alhambra, which is an historic theatre (see link) that had a successful and visionary 'makeover' a few years ago and is able to stage some very big shows straight from London's West End. I always think it looks thrilling all lit up. Even my rather blurry iPhone photo captures the atmosphere. It's funny that the night shot I took in London a few weeks ago was really sharp but this one isn't. I put it down to the cold!  It was snowing at the time, so I was shivering. That's my excuse anyway.